Pops and "skips" in recording

[shinobidice]

When I have been recording lately, I get intermittent pops in the music, and it almost sounds like a cd skipping. I have the asio4all driver that someone suggested, and this may be the source and solution to the problem, I just don't know how to fix it.

Any ideas?

I'm using an Alesis USB Multimix 8 with Cubase LE

[friendforafoe]

When I have been recording lately, I get intermittent pops in the music, and it almost sounds like a cd skipping. I have the asio4all driver that someone suggested, and this may be the source and solution to the problem, I just don't know how to fix it.

Any ideas?

I'm using an Alesis USB Multimix 8 with Cubase LE

hmmmmm....i had that problem on my old pc...i use cubase sx3, but i haven't had any problems. as far as the pops, it could be you have the the sound input way which would cause clipping...but i dunno what you mean. does the song actually skip? also look for your sampling rate. anything above 16bit with a 44.100k sampling rate shouldn't do that, but make sure you have some decent ram too and that your asio config for cubase works (just test it). i'll need more details if you want me to help. OH...also it may the fact you're using usb. that would happen to me with my pod xt live when i'd try to record via usb...i unplugged the usb and plug straight into my line input and it stopped...hmmm :confused: lemme know if i can help

[scheid]

I haven't heard your popping obviously, but you might also want to check your CPU usage. When it gets up above about 70% you could start to hear some of that popping too (as well as other not-so-good things). If your recording softeware doesn't have a CPU meter, you can (on a PC) open Windows Task Manager and click on the 'performance' tab; you should see a running timeline of cpu usage. Leave task manager open and go back to your software, and do your thing (recording, playback, etc.). then go right back to task manager and see what the CPU usage was while your software was recording. If it stayed up above 70% or so, then that could be at least part of your problem. I often have to keep some of my effects out of the mix until final mixdown for this reason; effects eat up a lot of CPU, some more than others. Hope this helps. . .

[shinobidice]

I know its not clipping, and my PC is powerful enough to do recordings because I have before. These are clean runs, no effects, just one mic in.

[Knifeboy]

Sounds like your computer is overloaded to me.. Just because it has been able to cope with it before doesn't mean that one of the programs isn't suddenly bogging your cpu down

[Moseph]

You're experiencing dropouts. This is a problem that is potentially incurable (but probably not).

Can you answer the following questions for me?

1) What type of chip is your computer using (Pentium 4, Celeron, Quadcore, Athalon) and what speed is it?

2) How are you streaming the audio to disk? Are you streaming to the same hard drive that your computer's operating system is on, or a seperate hard drive? What speed(s) is the hard drive (how many rpm is it spec'd for)?

3) What operating system are you using? Be specific (ie, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Mac OS 10.6.4) as possible.

4) Are you using new software to record? Are you using new hardware to record? Has anything changed about your recording method since your last successful attempt?

5) Has anything else changed about the computer since your last successful attempt? This is something as obvious as new (non-audio) hardware/drivers, but also new programs, operating system updates.

6) What else is running on your computer while you record (multimedia players, anti-virus, firewalls)? Are you connected to the Internet during this time?

[shinobidice]

1) Pentium 3 1.1ghz
2) Its currently being saved to a separate drive with 7200rpm with about 90gb of clean organized space
3) Windows XP Professional
4) I'm using Cubase LE, I used it before and I didn't have this problem. Using audacity and the sound card I didn't experience problems, which is why I think its a problem with the USB driver. I have been using it in a 1.0 port, but I upgraded to 2.0 and used the card reader slot on the board to make a port in the front, however I have been told this may not be a powered USB port, but it charges my iPod when connected there so it must be getting power.
5) I haven't really done much since I first installed cubase. I did install a different driver that is supposed to decrease latency, and I'm not sure if it pops with the original one, but with the latency it had (my computer isnt the fastest but its not something I can change right now) I couldn't do what I needed to do. There are many settings such as sample buffer and latency buffer that can be changed, I just don't know what changes should be made.
6) I basically shut down my computer when I record. No aim, windows messenger, firefox; i leave nothing on that isnt needed for recording. I'm constantly connected by wireless to sattellite internet.

[Moseph]

Okay, try the latest native drivers, rather than any 3rd party drivers (such as ASIO4ALL). In most situations, the manufacturer's drivers are best.

Also, try going back to the original USB 1.1 port that worked. There's no benefit from the 2.0 port, since you're using a device that's only capable of transmitting at USB 1.1 speeds. This particularly true if you're using a native USB 1.1 bus, but an adapted USB 2.0 bus, as seems to be the case.